Name: Nahla Aqil

Nim: 210203037
Course: Educational Psychology
Day, Date: Tuesday, 22nd of November 2022

A Report about Learning Difficulty in Learning Mathematics

Mathematics is one of the most fundamental subjects either at school or university.

Many students either at school or university do not like mathematics. They think mathematics
is difficult and complex. Many students trap in that mindset and it makes them difficult in
understanding mathematics theory. In this research, I will report on the learning difficulty in
mathematics subject that my cousin faced. I collected data for this report by asking my cousin
some questions which she answered directly. The result of this research is we know some
factors of the learning difficulty that my cousin faced. We will also know how she struggles to
complete this lesson.

Learning difficulty is a condition in which students cannot learn properly or difficult to

receive lessons as they should. Learning difficulty in mathematics can be interpreted as a
learning difficulty experienced by students in understanding the mathematical concept.
Mathematics is one of the main lessons that every student has to complete. Mathematics is one
of the important lessons to learn because mathematics offers some fundamental skills to us in
real life, such as problem-solving. Every student either at school or university is forced to
master this lesson. Even though mathematics is very important for students, many of them have
difficulty understanding the concepts of mathematics. Some students feel stressed and
depressed while learning mathematics. There are many factors why some students do not like
mathematics and find it difficult in learning mathematics.

The participant in this report is my cousin. She is a nineteen-year-old girl. She is a

university student who studies at one of the universities in Banda Aceh majoring in the banking
department. Her house is in front of my house. I could say that we meet almost every day. She
found it difficult in learning mathematics. It come more difficult when she studies in university
because in university she not only studies basic mathematics but also business mathematics.
When she was in senior high school, her major is IPA (Science). So, she never studied business
mathematics before. This is what makes it more difficult in learning mathematics in university.
 Data I collected by interviewing my cousin. I ask her several questions and she
answered them directly. The first question is do you have difficulty learning mathematics? The
second is in which topics of mathematics you find most difficult for you. The third is why you
think it is difficult. The fourth is how your teacher teaches you in the classroom. The fifth
question is are you afraid or anxious when walking into math class? The last question I asked
her was how you struggle to complete this lesson.

My cousin said that she finds it difficult in learning mathematics. She felt difficulty in
math since she was in junior high school. The first topic that makes her not like math anymore
is algebra. She found this topic hard to understand. Besides, the method that her teacher used
to teach is not suitable for her. She said that her teacher only explain the topic in front of the
class without asking the student whether they understand or not. Since then, she has come to
think that mathematics is difficult and she does not like mathematics anymore.

When she got older, she realize that mathematics is very important. When she was in
senior high school, she met a good teacher whose teaching method was suitable for her. Even
though the teaching method used by her teacher suited her, she still found it difficult to
understand the mathematical concepts taught in high school. Sometimes, she understand her
teacher's explanation at school, but when she came home she forgot her teacher's explanation.
The same thing still happened until she was in university. She said sometimes if she does not
understand the material and cannot solve the task that her lecturer gives her, she feels afraid
and anxious. So, before the day of this lesson, she will learn it with her friend first. If she has
homework she will do it together with her friends.

All of these problems happen because of two factors. The first is the internal factor and
the second is the external factor. Internal factor such as prior knowledge or previous knowledge
is very important in understanding mathematics. As (Agustyaningrum, Sari, Abadi, &
Mahmudi, 2021) states that students’ prior knowledge is an important component that supports
student performance in learning. Lack of prior knowledge can make us hard in understanding
the topic because we do not know previous or basic knowledge of that topic. The other internal
factor is less concentration and the anxiety that she feels during the class. As (Sari, Fauziyah,
Ghazi, Azizah, & Al-Fidyah, 2020) claimed that poor quality and learning achievement of
students caused a weak ability to concentrate while studying. The external factor of this
problem is because the teaching method that her teacher use is not suited to her. Teachers’
teaching methods impact students’ enthusiasm, students’ interest, students’ understanding, and
students’ achievement. (Lestari & Dewi, 2021) said that there is a great influence of the
teacher's teaching methods on the development of student's interest in mathematics. Where if
the teacher teaches in a boring way, the interest and enthusiasm of students to learn decreases,
but if the teacher's teaching method is fun then students will be interested and have a great
interest in the lesson.

From this report, we can conclude that the initial emergence of learning difficulties in
mathematics did not only come from the students themselves but also because of learning
methods that were not suitable for students which made the students give up so they did not
like mathematics. Therefore, students do not have sufficient prior knowledge to study advanced
topics at their further education levels, causing students to misunderstand. Low levels of
concentration also have a big effect on learning mathematics, because mathematics is a subject
that requires full concentration and detailed attention.
 REFERENCES

Agustyaningrum, N., Sari, R. N., Abadi, A. M., & Mahmudi, A. (2021). Dominant factors
that cause students' difficulties in learning abstract algebra: a case study at a
university in indonesia. International Journal of Instruction, 14(1), 847-866.

Lestari, T., & Dewi, S. L. (2021). Pengaruh metode mengajar terhadap minat belajar siswa
sekolah dasar pada mata pelajaran matematika. Jurnal Pembelajaran Matematika
Inovatif, 4(4), 755-764.

Sari, U. A., Fauziyah, N., Ghozi, A., Azizah, I. N., & Al-Fidyah, U. F. (2020). Improving the
students' learning consentration through Ice Breaking. Advance in Social Science,
Education and Humanities Research, 529, 614-619.